All right, here we go!
Few weeks ago there was a looooong thread about How much money you spend on food every week and it made me wonder how much money most of you spend on CD!
So many women here struggle every day to put food on the table, yet, SO MANY women seem to be shopping for CD every single day! I am simply amazed how much money you guys spend on cloth diapers! : Holly cow! Isnt' it suppose to be the whole point of CDing - to SAVE money? :

All right, All right! Here's the confession... I have only been full time cloth diapering for a month and a sweet, sweet mom here sold me some extras and leftovers. There! (but I will be stocked up for the next time around) Oh, and I was spending WAY more for the unbleached 7th generation disposables, so I AM saving money.

As of today, we have 3 dozen prefolds, 5 wraps, and 1 dozen AIO's for a total of $185. BUT, I had bought some used before, used them a couple of months, resold them for a profit...so in reality, I'm only down about $100. Not too shabby.

If you posted this in diapering -- I bet you would hear some much higher numbers! I've probably spent $350ish -- but they aren't all diapers yet -- I have yards & yards of fabric! Other than some elastic, I should never have to spend any $$ again -- on any other children I may have! :LOL

I think all you mommas left a few zeros out of your diaper count.... geeze you all make me feel guilty! I spent close to $200 before my DS was even born and I don't have any of that stuff left.... My guess would be around $700+ easy. Now I feel really bad, good thing my DH doesn't come to this board. :

I don't cloth diaper to save money. That said I still think I must have saved over sposies anyway.

If I were to use sposies I would still change often. I have not used a sposie in over 2 years but I cannot stand the smell of them and they way people use them as travel toilets - it makes me sick. Anyway, my point is that I would be spending money either way. I will not let myself feel guilty over diapers.

When we first started cloth diapering, I spent I think $90 on some HH & stuffins. Then I waited until we got our income tax check, and I used a few hundred of that (maybe $400?) to buy cloth. All the $$ I spend now, I get from selling the diapers we already have, so it's just like I'm rotating them. We make very little money total (under $20K a year, we live simply), so I just buy and sell the diapers trying new things, seeing what works. In no way am I just buying all brand new dipes left and right, we just don't have the money for that. Oh, and my MIL has given us money for $$ before too (Braden wanted diapers for Easter, what was I supposed to do,lol...)

ETA...I don't diaper the cheapest possible way. But I don't buy a lot of toys or any new clothes at all for Braden, since he has everything from Tyler (the spoiled, first grandchild of my in-laws,lol). So he does get some cute diapers.

When we first started cloth diapering, I spent I think $90 on some HH & stuffins. Then I waited until we got our income tax check, and I used a few hundred of that (maybe $400?) to buy cloth. All the $$ I spend now, I get from selling the diapers we already have, so it's just like I'm rotating them. We make very little money total (under $20K a year, we live simply), so I just buy and sell the diapers trying new things, seeing what works. In no way am I just buying all brand new dipes left and right, we just don't have the money for that. Oh, and my MIL has given us money for $$ before too (Braden wanted diapers for Easter, what was I supposed to do,lol...)

ETA...I don't diaper the cheapest possible way. But I don't buy a lot of toys or any new clothes at all for Braden, since he has everything from Tyler (the spoiled, first grandchild of my in-laws,lol). So he does get some cute diapers.

Yup! The huge investments came from tax returns and most everything else is bought with paypal I make selling other stuff. I have used the checking account a few times, but repay it when I have extra paypal (sometimes ).

ETA: We don't use cloth to save money - we use it because it is better for our dds' bums.

Sure it's more than sposies *but* I save on EVERYTHING else for our family w/ NFL pratices. From breastmilk to no 'poo - I think it is a wash.

Someone once said that CDing doesn't have to be totally utilitarian (is that the correct word?). How many shoes do most ppl own? Are they all the same?

I don't get why people are so worried about how much others spend on dipes. Some people buy Lattes every morning or lots of CDs. I don't care to spend my money on either but I don't really care that they do.

Plus, I hate to sound like a broken record but without the mamas that spend lots of $$ on dipes, we would not have raised the THOUSANDS of $$ for Samuel and Levi and Aid for Orphans.

I've probably spent about $600 total. But most comes from selling things on Ebay and hardly any goes on the CC, only when I have to. I don't CD to save money either, its a hobby for me. I'm sure when it's all said and done I will have spent at least $1000 by the time they are potty trained.

Sure it's more than sposies *but* I save on EVERYTHING else for our family w/ NFL pratices. From breastmilk to no 'poo - I think it is a wash.

Someone once said that CDing doesn't have to be totally utilitarian (is that the correct word?). How many shoes do most ppl own? Are they all the same?

I don't get why people are so worried about how much others spend on dipes. Some people buy Lattes every morning or lots of CDs. I don't care to spend my money on either but I don't really care that they do.

Plus, I hate to sound like a broken record but without the mamas that spend lots of $$ on dipes, we would not have raised the THOUSANDS of $$ for Samuel and Levi and Aid for Orphans.

I'm glad you bring up the charity part! It is a great reminder of the generosity of the cd'ing mamas. And I love the latte analogy!

I dont do it to save money, i had never planned on saving money at all, it just happened that way. plus I saved on more than just diapers. The way DS's butt looked we would have spent a LOT of time at the doctors(my sisters baby's butt looks the same and she goes to the doc about once a week and she is 2 months old. They have done this since she was born and get meds for her butt) we would be buying lots of different creams and probably buying even more sposies to make sure we changed him every 30-45 minutes so he never sat in one long. This is what my sister has to do and I wish she would wake up but she wont, she is so dumb sometimes about the common sense stuff.

When I started CDing (25 months ago, when dd was born), I stuck to the prefold packages. For the first 23 months or so, my "stash" consisted of 36 infant prefolds, 24 premium prefolds, 6 infant prorap covers, 4 medium bummi sww, and 2 toddler Stacinators. So around $200 for 2 years... not bad. But then I found fitteds. And wool. And AIOs. So now, I'm building a toddler stash, which I needed anyway, and a newborn stash for the new babe. I have no idea how much I've spent on this... probably close to $400 so far. But I really don't feel gulity. It makes me happy, dd happy, and we have a bit of extra money right now. Plus, I don't intend to have so much that I can avoid washing dipes for two weeks!

Btw, I don't CD to save money. Did at first, but now its more for the babes and the environment. In fact, using sposies would be/ was free for us. My parents offered to buy all the disposible diapers and wipes for us! So, for us, that would be the way to save money!

I haven't kept track but I'm sure it's a few hundred dollars. I cd for environmental reasons and to take care of my ds in a way in which I am comfortable. Just like I choose to buy organic fruits ands veggies for our family. Just like I gave up a very good job to be a sahm - it's not about the money - it's about our quality of life. Luckily DH has a good job that he enjoys, we live within our means and don't go overboard on a lot of other things that are important to other people.

Holli, I'd like to see your stash pictures. I could PM you my email address,lol. No judging from me, we all have things we like to spend $$ on. We don't have cable, I'm not into purses, clothes or shoes, or makeup. I buy diapers (and homeschool stuff!). I'd love to see the beautiful stash you've put together for your little one.

I don't spend anything really compared to others, on other diapers, since I make Simone's, but over the past couple of years, I have probably spent about 150.00 to 'treat' ourselves to other wahm dipes.